Incognegro

Lily Laita’s Incognegro is a work that delves into the complexity of cultural experiences. The highly charged title, is a term that originated in the United States of America in reference to an individual who is of African-American descent, ‘passing’ as white to conceal their heritage to navigate segregated spaces or avoid discrimination.

Drawing links to these histories, Laita’s work raises questions around racism, culture tensions and identity politics in Aotearoa New Zealand. In the central panel, ancestral figures are ceremonially seated, preparing the ava that symbolises connections to both land and to woman’s spirituality and power.

The words ‘tu‘u I ai ni vai’ on her painting refer to the act of adding water to the ava, which also becomes a symbolic reference to questions of identity. Can culture be watered down, is it an instant fix, what do we mean by purity, who decides who has worth and will be ‘other’?

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